Centrifugal smearing device and sealed rotating container

ABSTRACT

A centrifugal smearing device including a sealed rotating container that houses a chamber with a slide glass removably attached for holding a liquid sample to smear cells with a centrifugal force onto the slide glass, and a base housing the sealed rotating container and including rotational driving means for rotating the sealed rotating container, the sealed rotating container includes a main body capable of housing the chamber and a lid for closing an upper surface opening portion of the main body, a seal portion for sealing a space between the main body and the end face of the upper face opening portion is provided on an outer circumferential edge of the lid, and a scattering protection wall is formed at an inside of the seal portion so as to protrude downward to hide the seal portion from inside so that a liquid does not scatter onto the seal portion.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent application is a national phase application ofInternational Application No. PCT/JP2014/056075, filed Mar. 7, 2014,which claims priority to Japanese Application No. 2013-081441, filedApr. 9, 2013, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a centrifugal smearing device forsmearing floating cells of a liquid sample onto a slide glass and asealed rotating container used for the centrifugal smearing device.

BACKGROUND ART

For example, a centrifugal smearing device has been known for performingcentrifugation on liquid collected from body fluid, blood, and urine toobtain cells, and smearing the separated cells onto a slide glass.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a conventional centrifugal smearingdevice. FIG. 12 illustrates the conventional centrifugal smearingdevice. The conventional centrifugal smearing device includes a base 2including a motor 1, and a sealed rotating container 3 that is mountedin the base 2 and rotated by drive of the motor 1.

In the sealed rotating container 3, a plurality of chambers 4 forholding a liquid sample can be housed. The slide glass can be mounted tothe chamber 4 with a holder.

The sealed rotating container 3 has a main body 7 and a lid 8 forcovering an upper face opening portion of the main body 7. Inside themain body 7, a rotor 6 for disposing the chamber 4 is provided.

At an upper end edge portion of the main body 7 is formed with a planarportion 9 projecting outward and a protruding portion 5 projectingupward at a leading end portion of the planar portion 9.

The lid 8 has a planar portion 17 whose outer edge portion projectsoutward, and a seal member 18 such as rubber provided at a leading endportion of the planar portion 17.

When the main body 7 is covered with the lid 8, a planar portion 6 ofthe lid 8 is placed on the planar portion 9 of the upper end edgeportion of the main body 7. Further, a seal member 18 of the lid 8 comesinto contact with the protruding portion 5 of the main body 7. With thisarrangement, a seal portion is constituted between the main body 7 andthe lid 8 to prevent liquid from leaking from an inside of the main body7 to an outside thereof.

A funnel-shaped holding section for holding the liquid is formed in achamber, and a passage directed outward is formed on a side face of abottom portion of the holding section. When the chamber is rotated toapply a centrifugal force to the liquid sample, the liquid sample passesthrough this passage to move outward. An opening portion is formed at anoutside of the passage, and the slide glass is arranged at an outward ofthe opening portion.

Between the opening portion and the slide glass, a rubber packing orfilter paper is arranged to seal space between the opening portion andthe slide glass. When the filter paper is arranged, since the cells aresmeared onto the slide glass and liquid components seep out through thefilter paper, limited floating cells in the liquid sample can beefficiently collected.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   PTL 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-39014

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

As described above, when the filter paper is used for the chamber, it isadvantageous for collecting the floating cells, but the liquidcomponents separated during being centrifuged scatter from the chamber.

The liquid sample generally is the body fluid, urine, or blood of apatient. Thus, since the liquid sample may cause infection, caution isrequired for dealing with the liquid sample.

Therefore, when the separated liquid components scatter from thechamber, caution is required so that the liquid components do not leakoutside the sealed rotating container.

However, the conventional sealed rotating container described in PatentLiterature 1 has a wall face in a slightly tapered shape so that adiameter of the sealed rotating container becomes slightly larger towardthe upper portion of a main body. Therefore, it can be considered thatthe liquid components scattered from the chamber seep out from an insideof the main body to a planar portion of an upper end edge portion of themain body. In this case, it can be also considered that the liquidcomponents seep into a seal portion between the planar portion of themain body and a planar portion of a lid.

As described above, if the liquid components seep into the seal portion,the liquid components increased with the centrifugal force may exceed asealing force in the seal portion to leak outside the sealed rotatingcontainer.

Further, if the liquid components seep into the seal portion, forexample, when an operator opens the lid, the liquid components may comeinto contact with the operator.

To solve the problem described above, the purpose of the presentinvention is to provide the centrifugal smearing device in which theliquid components do not leak outside the sealed rotating container, andthe sealed rotating container.

Solution to Problem

A centrifugal smearing device of the present invention includes: asealed rotating container that houses a chamber with a slide glassremovably attached for holding a liquid sample and smearing cells in theliquid sample onto the slide glass with a centrifugal force; and a basehousing the sealed rotating container and having rotational drivingmeans for rotating the sealed rotating container, wherein said sealedrotating container includes a main body being capable of housing saidchamber and a lid configured to close an upper face opening portion ofthe main body, wherein a seal portion for sealing a space between themain body and an end face of the upper face opening portion of the mainbody is provided at an outer circumferential edge of said lid, andwherein a scattering protection wall is formed at an inside of the sealportion so as to protrude downward to hide the seal portion from insideso that a liquid does not scatter onto the seal portion.

By adopting the construction described above, it is possible to preventthe liquid scattered from the chamber from coming into contact with thescattering protection wall and scattering onto the seal portion.Therefore, the liquid can be prevented from leaking outside the mainbody of the sealed rotating container.

A sealed rotating container of the present invention, which is used fora centrifugal smearing device and houses a chamber with a slide glassremovably attached for holding a liquid sample and smearing cells in theliquid sample onto the slide glass with a centrifugal force, includes: amain body being capable of housing said chamber: and a lid configured toclose an upper face opening portion of the main body, wherein a sealportion for sealing a space between the main body and an end face of theupper face opening portion of the main body is provided at an outercircumferential edge of said lid, and wherein a scattering protectionwall is formed at an inside of the seal portion so as to protrudedownward to hide the seal portion from inside so that a liquid does notscatter onto the seal portion.

By adopting the construction described above, it is possible to preventthe liquid scattered from the chamber from coming into contact with thescattering protection wall and scattering onto the seal portion.Therefore, the liquid can be prevented from leaking outside the mainbody of the sealed rotating container.

Further, the scattering protection wall may be formed tilting outward.

By adopting the construction described above, the liquid scattering ontothe scattering protection wall drops obliquely downward outside alongthe scattering protection wall due to a centrifugal force and theconstruction tilting outward so that the liquid can be prevented fromintruding into the seal portion.

Further, the seal portion of the lid may include a packing placed on aplanar face formed on the end face of the upper opening portion of themain body.

As described above, it is possible to ensure sealing property and easyattachment and removal of the lid by mounting the packing at a side ofthe lid.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the centrifugal smearing device and the sealed rotatingcontainer of the present invention, the liquid components can beprevented from leaking outside the sealed rotating container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a constitution of acentrifugal smearing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a constitution of a sealedrotating container of the present invention

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a main body of the sealed rotating container.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main body of the sealed rotatingcontainer.

FIG. 5 illustrates a function of an unbalanced-load preventionmechanism.

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the unbalanced-load preventionmechanism.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating another embodiment of theunbalanced-load prevention mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating another embodiment of theunbalanced-load prevention mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a lid of the sealed rotatingcontainer.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a knob portion of the lid.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of the knob portion of the lid and amounting portion of the main body

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a constitution of aconventional centrifugal smearing device.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a side face of a centrifugal smearing deviceaccording to the present embodiment.

A centrifugal smearing device 30 includes a base 31 including a motor 32functioning as rotation driving means and a sealed rotating container 34to be stored in the base 31. FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic constitutionof the base 31.

A piece 37 is mounted to a rotational axis of the motor 32 of the base31. The sealed rotating container 34 is arranged such that the piece 37enters a housing 35 formed in a center of the sealed rotating container34. By rotational driving of the motor 32, the sealed rotating container34 is rotated via the piece 37.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side face view of the sealed rotating container,and FIG. 3 illustrates a plan view thereof. FIG. 4 illustrates a sideface view of only the main body of the sealed rotating container.

The sealed rotating container 34 includes a main body 40 into which thechamber 10 can be housed, and a lid 42 for closing and sealing an upperface opening portion of the main body 40.

The main body 40 is a member in a container-like shape, and is formed asa housing 35 whose center portion is raised upward to be mounted to thebase 31. Therefore, an outer circumferential portion other than thecenter portion of the main body 40 functions as a housing section in aring-like shape.

The housing 35 has a lower stage portion 35 a for housing a portion inwhich the motor 32 and so on of the base 31 are arranged and an upperstage portion 35 b for housing the piece 37 described above. The upperstage portion 35 b has a diameter smaller than that of the lower stageportion 35 a. Therefore, a stepped portion 47 is formed between a lowerend of the lower stage portion 35 a and an upper end of the upper stageportion 35 b.

The lower stage portion 35 a and the upper stage portion 35 b areconstituted by different members from each other, and the lower stageportion 35 a and the upper stage portion 35 b are mounted with eachother via a mounting screw 105.

On a further upper portion of the upper stage portion 35 b for housingthe piece 37 of the housing 35, a mounting portion 71 to which the lid42 is mounted is formed. At the upper end portion of the mountingportion 71, a “V” ring 110 that comes into close contact with the lid 42to ensure sealing property is provided.

The mounting portion 71 has a cylindrical raised portion 74 projectingupward from the upper stage portion 35 b of the housing 35 and aninsertion portion 78 through which a fixing hub 84 (described below)provided in a knob portion 70 (described below) of the lid 42 isinserted. An outer wall of the insertion portion 78 is formed with agripping portion 79 projecting outward.

Reasons why the gripping portion 79 is formed in a center of the mainbody 40 is as follows.

Namely, when a sample having a low infection level is adopted or thechamber 10 sealed with rubber is adopted, or when a small amount ofsample is used, the sealed rotating container 34 can be used to performthe centrifugal smearing processing without mounting the lid 42.

In such a case, when the operator operates as holding the main body 40,the operator can operate as gripping a gripping portion 79 provided at acenter portion of the main body 40.

Further, in the main body 40, a rotor 44 to which the plurality ofchambers 10 can be mounted is removably arranged.

An opening portion 44 a is formed at a center of the rotor 44. Byinserting the upper stage portion 35 b of the housing 35 into theopening portion 44 a in the center of the rotor 44 and disposing acircumferential edge of the opening portion 44 a on the stepped portion47, the rotor 44 is mounted to the main body 40.

Further, at the circumferential edge of the opening portion 44 a of therotor 44, a thumb screw 49 is provided at a plurality of points. Withthe thumb screw 49, the circumferential edge of the opening portion 44 aof the rotor 44 and the stepped portion 47 of the main body 40 are fixedwith each other.

The rotor 44 includes two substantially disk-shaped members 39, 39 in aplanar view at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction. Thetwo disk-shaped members 39, 39 are formed with a plurality ofrectangular holes 45 for mounting the chamber.

The rectangular holes 45 are formed to communicate the two disk-shapedmembers 39, 39 with each other, and an upper portion and a lower portionof the chamber 10 inserted into the rectangular hole 45 are supported bythe two disk-shaped members 39, 39 to be fixed to the rotor 44.

Further, the plurality of rectangular holes 45 has a substantiallytrapezoidal shape in a planar view. A long side of the rectangular hole45 is located in a diameter direction of the disk and a short sidethereof is located in the circumferential direction of the disk. Theplurality of rectangular holes 45 is formed at uniform positions withrespect to a center of the disk, and kept in balance during beingrotated.

Next, the chamber 10 will be described. The constitution of the chamber10 used for the centrifugal smearing device of the present invention isnot limited to any specific constitution, but a known constitution canbe adopted. The chambers illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 are formed indifferent types depending on the right or the left, but they have abasically same function.

A general chamber that can be used for the present invention includesthe holding section 11 for holding a liquid sample and a holder 12 forgripping a slide glass 19.

The holding section 11 has an upward-downward circulation portion 13opening upward and a storage section 14 opening to a side of the holder12.

In a vicinity of the opening portion 15 opening from the storage section14 to the side of the holder 12, a packing made of rubber, for example,or filter paper can be arranged (not illustrated). The packing is usedto ensure the sealing property of the opening portion 15. Further, byarranging the filter paper, while the liquid components of the liquidsample are absorbed, the flowing cells separated from the liquidcomponents can be smeared onto the slide glass 19.

Even if the filter paper is arranged in the chamber 10, when a largeamount of the liquid sample is held in the holding section 11, theliquid sample may scatter into the sealed rotating container 34 throughthe filter paper during being centrifuged. According to the constitutionof the sealed rotating container 34 described below, the scatteredliquid components can be stored.

The main body 40 of the sealed rotating container 34 has a storagesection 46 for storing the liquid components (hereinafter, may be simplyreferred to as “liquid”) scattered from the chamber 10.

The storage section 46 is constituted such that the inside face of themain body 40 projects outward (outward recessed). A wall face of thestorage section 46 is constituted as a vertical wall face in thevertical direction. Therefore, even if the centrifugal force is appliedto the liquid stored in the storage section 46, the liquid does notreceive the force in a direction where the liquid goes up.

The upper end portion of the storage section 46 is formed with aprotruding portion 48 projecting inward. By forming the protrudingportion 48, the liquid stored in the storage section 46 can berestricted from moving upward.

The protruding portion 48 of the present embodiment is a constrictionviewed from an outside of the main body 40. By recessing a metal memberconstituting the main body 40 from the outside, the protruding portion48 projecting inward is formed. However, as the protruding portion ofthe present invention, another member different from the memberconstructing the main body 40 may be mounted on the upper end portion ofthe storage section 46 to form the protruding portion 48.

An upper portion of the protruding portion 48 of the main body 40 isformed with the planar portion 50 for placing the lid 42. The planarportion 50 is a horizontal face directed outward. The outer edge portionof the planar portion 50 is a folded portion 52 folded upward.

The outer edge of the lid 42 and the packing (described below) aredisposed on the planar portion 50 and the folded portion 52 toconstitute the seal portion of the sealed rotating container 34.

Next, the unbalanced-load prevention mechanism provided in the storagesection will be described.

In the set number of rotations of the sealed rotating container 34,there is a plurality of vibrational resonance points. In other words, aplurality of vibrational resonance points is passed from startingrotation to a maximum number of rotations, and further a plurality ofvibrational resonance points is passed also from the maximum number ofrotations to stop the rotation. At the vibrational resonance points, thesealed rotating container 34 easily loses balance, and the liquid storedin the storage section 46 may get over the protruding portion 48 toenter the seal portion. Further, a problem of danger may occur in whichthe sealed rotating container 34 loses the balance to cause the sealedrotating container 34 to rotate as rattling in the base 31.

The present embodiment adopts a constitution in which load of the liquidstored in the storage section 46 does not become unbalanced so that notonly specifically the vibrational resonance points but the sealedrotating container 34 are rotated in balance.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side face of the sealed rotating container when theunbalanced-load prevention mechanism is provided. FIG. 5 illustrates aschematic view of a state of the liquid stored in the storage sectionwhen the unbalanced-load prevention mechanism is provided.

According to the present embodiment, the unbalanced-load preventionmechanism includes a plurality of ribs 55 projecting inward from thewall face of the storage section 46 and extending in the verticaldirection. The rib 55 illustrated herein has a rectangular shape in itscross-section, but, as illustrated in FIG. 3, may be formed in amountain-like shape formed of a curve in its cross-section.

Since the plurality of ribs 55 extends in the vertical direction, theyhave a function for dividing the liquid stored in the storage section 46in the circumferential direction. Therefore, the liquid in the storagesection 46 can be prevented from becoming unbalanced in thecircumferential direction.

An upper end portion of each rib 55 in the vertical direction ispreferably formed up to a position of the protruding portion 48 atleast. By arranging as described above, the liquid in the storagesection 46 can be prevented from getting over the protruding portion 48.

FIG. 5 illustrates a state where the ribs 55 are provided at fourpoints, and arranged at the uniform positions. However, the number ofthe ribs 55 is not limited to four, but any number can be adopted. Theintervals between the ribs 55, 55 need to be equal.

Subsequently, another embodiment of the unbalanced-load preventionmechanism will be described. FIG. 6 illustrates a part of the inner wallface of the storage section 46.

According to the embodiment, the inner wall face of the storage section46 is formed with fine irregularities. With the irregularities, thefrictional resistance between the liquid in the storage section 46 andthe inner wall face of the storage section 46 is increased to disturbmovement of the liquid in the storage section 46, thereby preventing theunbalanced load. As the example described herein, grooves 51 having adepth of about 1 mm and a width of about 1 mm are formed at apredetermined interval on the inner wall face of the storage section 46along the vertical direction. As described above, by forming theirregularities in stripes extending in the vertical direction, theunbalanced-load prevention function for the liquid stored in the storagesection 46 can be attained.

Further, another embodiment of the unbalanced-load prevention mechanismwill be described.

FIG. 7 illustrates a state where the outer circumferential edge of therotor 44 is provided with a plurality of dividers 56 projecting outward.

A length of the divider 56 in the diameter direction is the lengththereof that enters the storage section 46, and the divider 56 is formednot to come into contact with the wall face of the storage section 46.

A length of the divider 56 in the vertical direction is the lengththereof that can enter the storage section 46, and formed as long aspossible. The divider 56 divides the liquid in the storage section 46 toperform a function in a similar manner to that of the rib 55 describedabove. In other words, the divider 56 has a function for dividing theliquid stored in the storage section 46 in the circumferentialdirection. Therefore, the liquid in the storage section 46 can beprevented from generating unbalance in the circumferential direction.

FIG. 7 illustrates a state where the dividers 56 are provided at fourpoints, and arranged at the uniform positions. However, the number ofthe dividers 56 is not limited to four, but any number can be adopted.The intervals between the dividers 56, 56 need to be equal.

The above-described ribs 55 and fine irregularities (grooves 51) aredirectly formed on the main body 40 of the sealed rotating container 34.

However, the ribs 55 and the grooves 51 may be constituted as anothermember different from that of the main body 40. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 8, a cylindrical member 58 divided into a pluralityof portions in the circumferential direction is provided to be mountedin the storage section 46, and the plurality of ribs 55 may be formed onthe inner wall face of the member.

Similarly, to be mounted in the storage section 46, on the inner wallface of the cylindrical member 58 divided into the plurality of piecesin the circumferential direction, the fine irregularities (grooves 51)may be formed for increasing the frictional resistance between theliquid in the storage section 46 and the inner wall face of the storagesection 46 (not illustrated).

The member 58 illustrated in FIG. 8 may be mounted in the storagesection 46, and it may not be specifically divided in thecircumferential direction.

Further, when the unbalanced-load prevention mechanism is provided asanother body different from the storage section 46, it is not limited toa constitution to mount the member as illustrated in FIG. 8 in the mainbody 40, but only the rib 55 may be constituted as anther body differentfrom the storage section 46 and mounted in the storage section 46.

Next, with reference to FIG. 9, a constitution of the lid will bedescribed.

The lid 42 is constituted to completely cover and seal the upper faceopening portion of the main body 40. The lid 42 is formed of transparentmaterial such as strengthened glass or strengthened plastic so that aninside state can be observed.

First, the seal portion of the lid will be described.

The lid 42 is formed with a seal portion 100 for being placed on theplanar portion 50 of the main body 40. The seal portion 100 is a sitewhere the outside edge of the lid 42 is a horizontal plane and projectsoutward. At a leading end portion of the seal portion 100 (leading endof the outer edge portion of the lid 42), a packing 102 having a U-likeshape in its cross section is mounted in such a manner to sandwich theseal portion 100 of the lid 42. The packing 102 is made of rubber. Asdescribed above, the packing 102 is mounted at a side of the lid 42 toensure sealing property of the seal portion 100 and also easy attachmentand removal of the lid 42.

A thickness of the packing 102 is formed as a thickness enough to housethe packing 102 in the folded portion 52 of the planar portion 50 of themain body 40.

Further, an inside of the seal portion 100 of the lid 42 is formed witha scattering protection wall 120 for hiding and protecting the sealportion 100 from the inside, so that the liquid does not scatter ontothe seal portion 100.

The scattering protection wall 120 projects downward from the inner wallface of the lid 42 and is formed in a ring-like shape making a circle ata lower portion of the lid 42. The scattering protection wall 120 has afunction of protection not to allow the scattered liquid to enter a sideof the seal portion 100 and also a function to flow the received liquiddownward.

The scattering protection wall 120 may slope toward an outside. In otherwords, when the liquid scattered during the centrifugal smearingprocessing comes into contact with the scattering protection wall 120, aforce for moving outward is applied by the centrifugal force. At thispoint, since the scattering protection wall 120 slopes toward theoutside, the liquid drops outside, obliquely downward along the scatterprotection wall. Since, outside, obliquely downward from the scatteringprotection wall 120, the storage section 46 is formed, the droppedliquid is stored in the storage section 46.

Next, a knob portion of the lid will be described. FIG. 10 illustratesan enlarged knob portion.

Further, FIG. 11 illustrates an enlarged mounting portion of the mainbody and knob portion. In a center of the lid 42, a metal knob portion70 is provided. The knob portion 70 has two functions of a function forbeing gripped when an operator operates the lid 42, and a function forconnecting with the main body 40.

The knob portion 70 includes a main body 81 formed with a round outerextending portion 80 in a planar view, and an axis portion 82 that isvertically movable. In a center of the main body, an insertion hole 83is formed through which the axis portion 82 is inserted in such a mannerto move vertically. Downward from the main body 81, a fixing hub 84projecting downward is provided. The fixing hub 84 has a cylindricalshape and formed with a center hole 87 communicating with the insertionhole 83 of the main body 81.

An upper end portion of the axis portion 82 is provided with a knoblarge-diameter portion 60 having a diameter that becomes graduallylarger upward.

A lower end portion of the axis portion 82 is formed in a tapered shapein which a diameter of the axis portion 82 becomes gradually smallertoward the leading end, and inserted into the center hole 87 of thefixing hub 84.

A side face of the fixing hub 84 is formed with a communication hole 89for communicating the center hole 87 with an outside. In thecommunication hole 89, a metal ball 88 is movably provided in the hole.When the metal ball 88 is moved outward in the communication hole 89, itcan project to the outside of the fixing hub 84. The communication hole89 has a diameter that gradually becomes smaller outward. A part of themetal ball 88 projects outside the fixing hub 84, but a whole portion ofthe metal ball does not project outside the fixing hub 84.

According to the present embodiment, the communication holes 89 areformed at three points with equal intervals provided from one another,and the metal ball 88 is provided for each of the communication holes89, and thus weight balance can be maintained even during being rotated.

With the metal ball 88, the lid 42 and the main body 40 are fixed witheach other. In other words, when the lid 42 is fixed to the main body40, the operator inserts the axis portion 82 into the insertion portion78 of the mounting portion 71 of the main body 40.

Then, the side face of the leading end portion of the axis portion 82 ina tapered shape comes into contact with the metal ball 88 arranged inthe communication hole 89. When the operator presses down the axisportion 82, the metal ball 88 moves outward along with lowering of theaxis portion 82, and a part of the metal ball 88 projects outward fromthe communication hole 89.

The metal ball 88 projecting outward from the fixing hub 84 as describedabove comes into contact with a lower end face of the insertion portion78 of the mounting portion 71 of the main body 40. As described above,the metal ball 88 of the fixing hub 84 comes into contact with theinsertion portion 78 to fix the lid 42 to the main body 40.

An area where the axis portion 82 moves vertically is restricted by aflange portion 112 formed on a middle portion of the axis portion 82.

In other words, a predetermined point of the center hole 87 of thefixing hub 84 is formed with a large diameter portion 114 in which theflange portion 112 can be moved. When the axis portion 82 is lowered,the flange portion 112 comes into contact with a lower face of the largediameter portion 114 so that a position of the axis portion 82 becomes alowest position. When the axis portion 82 is raised, the flange portion112 comes into contact with an upper face of the large diameter portion114 and the position thereof becomes a highest position.

Subsequently, a constitution in which a knob portion of the lid isformed with an air hole will be described.

There may be a case where, after the smearing processing is finished,when the lid 42 is tried to be removed from the main body 40, it cannotbe removed. This occurs, because, after the sealed rotating container 34is used, sterilization is performed with hot water or steamsterilization process is performed, and subsequently, the lid 42 isfixed to the main body 40 in a state where a temperature is still high.Thus, an inside of the sealed rotating container 34 has a negativepressure.

As described above, when the inside of the sealed rotating container 34has the negative pressure, in order to easily remove the lid 42 from themain body 40, the present embodiment adopts a constitution describedbelow.

In other words, when the axis portion 82 of the knob portion 70 islifted (moved upward), an inside and an outside of the sealed rotatingcontainer 34 are communicated with each other. More specifically, asillustrated in FIG. 12, an air hole 90 is formed in the axis portion 82through which, when the axis portion 82 of the knob portion 70 is liftedto remove the lid 42, the inside and the outside of the sealed rotatingcontainer 34 are communicated with each other.

The air hole 90 of the axis portion 82 is formed by communicating anouter opening portion 92 formed at an upper position than an upper faceof the main body 81 of the knob portion 70 when the axis portion 82 islifted with an inner opening portion 94 positioned downward from themain body 81 of the knob portion 70 (inside of the sealed rotatingcontainer 34) when the axis portion 82 is lifted.

The outer opening portion 92 is formed at a plurality of positions on aside face of the axis portion 82, and the inner opening portion 94 isformed on a side face of a lower side thereof. The air hole 90 is formedalong a center axis of the axis portion 82 to communicate the outeropening portion 92 with the inner opening portion 94.

When the axis portion 82 is raised, the communication hole 104communicating with the inner opening portion 94 of the axis portion 82is formed in the large diameter portion 114 of the fixing hub 84. Thecommunication hole 104 opens to an inner wall side of a center openingportion of the “V” ring 110.

An operation of forming such an air hole 90 is described as follows.

Before the smearing process is started, when the lid 42 is mounted tothe main body 40, if the operator presses the knob large-diameterportion 80 to lower the axis portion 82, the outer opening portion 92goes into the insertion hole 83 of the main body 81 of the knob portion70 to be hidden from the outside. Therefore, the air hole 90 is closedto seal the inside of the sealed rotating container 34.

After the smearing process is finished, when the operator pulls (raise)the knob large-diameter portion 80, the outer opening portion 92 formedin the axis portion 82 is exposed outside from the insertion hole 83.With this arrangement, the air is fed from the outside of the sealedrotating container 34 to the inside thereof via the outer openingportion 92, the air hole 90, the inner opening portion 94, and thecommunication hole 104.

Therefore, even if the inside of the sealed rotating container 34 hasthe negative pressure, when the lid 42 is removed, the air can be fedfrom the outside, thereby solving the problem of the negative pressureof the inside and easily removing the lid 42.

Further, an “O” ring 96 may be mounted on an outer circumference of theaxis portion 82.

A mounting position of the “O” ring 96 is always located where the “O”ring 96 is arranged in the insertion hole 83 of the main body 81 of theknob portion 70. In other words, a resistance force generated betweenthe “O” ring 96 and the insertion hole 83 is applied to the axis portion82 when the axis portion 82 is lifted and when the axis portion 82 ispressed down.

Further, with a sliding resistance force of the axis portion 82 by the“O” ring 96, even if the operator does not hold the axis portion 82, theaxis portion 82 can be held at the position by the gravity withoutlowering by itself.

As described above, the “O” ring 96 is provided to the axis portion 82of the knob portion 70 so that the lid 42 and the main body 40 are fixedwith one push (pressing the axis portion 82 only once). In other words,if no resistance force is applied to the axis portion 82, and when theoperator does not hold the axis portion 82, the axis portion 82 islowered due to the gravity. Thus, the axis portion 82 cannot be pushedto fix to the main body 40 without raising the axis portion 82 again.

However, as in the present embodiment, the “O” ring 96 is provided tothe axis portion 82 so that, even after the lid 42 is removed, the axisportion 82 can be easily fixed to the main body 40.

As a constitution in which the axis portion 82 can be pressed down withone push to fix the lid 42 to the main body 40, in addition to mountingthe “O” ring 96 on the outer circumference of the axis portion 82, forexample, it can be considered to provide a spring to apply an urgingforce between the axis portion 82 and an inner wall face of theinsertion hole 83.

However, if the sliding resistance force is applied to the axis portion82 by the spring, when the sealed rotating container 34 vibrates, theaxis portion 82 may be flown up by a slight reaction force of the springto release the fixation between the lid 42 and the main body 40.Therefore, the “O” ring is preferable to the spring to apply the slidingresistance to the axis portion 82 in the insertion hole 83.

What is claimed is:
 1. A centrifugal smearing device comprising: asealed rotating container that houses a chamber with a slide glassremovably attached for holding a liquid sample and smearing cells in theliquid sample onto the slide glass with a centrifugal force; and a basehousing the sealed rotating container and having a motor for rotatingthe sealed rotating container, wherein said sealed rotating containerincludes a main body being capable of housing said chamber and a lidconfigured to close an upper face opening portion of the main body,wherein a packing has a section formed into a U-like shape to sandwichan end of an outer edge portion of the lid that projects in a horizontalplane, the packing mounted on a horizontal portion formed in the endface of the upper face opening portion of the main body so as to see aspace between the main body and an end face of the upper face openingportion of the main body, wherein the lid comprises a scatteringprotection wall formed at an inside of a seal portion so as to protrudedownward to hide the packing from inside so that a liquid does notscatter onto the packing, wherein the scattering protection wallprojects downward from the outer edge portion, in which the packing isprovided, and is formed in a ring-like space making a circle at a lowerportion of the lid, and the scattering protection wall slopes toward anoutside to flow a received liquid, which has been scattered onto thescattering protection wall and moved outward by a centrifugal forcewhile performing a centrifugal-smearing, downward and toward theoutside, wherein a storing section is provided below at an obliquelyouter side of the scattering protection wall, the storing sectionoperable to store a liquid dropping obliquely downward outside along thescattering protection wall, wherein a protruding portion is formed abovethe storing section so as to prevent a liquid stored in the storingsection from moving upward, and the horizontal portion, to which theseal portion of the lid is provided, is formed above the protrudingportion, and wherein a lower end of the scattering protection wall isextended to a lower end of the protruding portion.
 2. A sealed rotatingcontainer that is used for a centrifugal smearing device and houses achamber with a slide glass removably attached for holding a liquidsample and smearing cells in the liquid sample onto the slide glass witha centrifugal force, said sealed rotating container comprising: a mainbody being capable of housing said chamber and a lid configured to closean upper face opening portion of the main body, wherein a packing isformed into a U-like shape to sandwich an end of an outer edge portionof the lid that projects in a horizontal plane, the packing mounted on ahorizontal portion formed in the end face of the upper face openingportion of the main body so as to seal a space between the main body andan end face of the upper face opening portion of the main body, whereinthe lid comprises a scattering protection wall formed at an inside ofthe seal portion so as to protrude downward to hide the packing frominside so that a liquid does not scatter onto the packing, wherein thescattering protection wall projects downward from the outer edgeportion, in which the packing is provided, and is formed in a ring-likeshape making a circle at a lower portion of the lid, and the scatteringprotection wall slopes toward an outside to flow a received liquid,which has been scattered onto the scattering protection wall and movedoutward by a centrifugal force while performing a centrifugal-smearing,downward and toward the outside, wherein a storing section is providedbelow at an obliquely outer side of the scattering protection wall, thestoring section operable to store a liquid dropping obliquely downwardoutside along the scattering protection wall, wherein a protrudingportion is formed above the storing section so as to prevent a liquidstored in the storing section from moving upward, and the horizontalportion, to which the seal portion of the lid is provided, is formedabove the protruding portion, and wherein a lower end of the scatteringprotection wall is extended to a lower end of the protruding portion.